Cilic sweeps past Tsonga at Monte Carlo Masters

The reasons for Jo-Wilfried Tsonga's decision to retire from the international tennis circuit were laid bare on Monday night at the Monte Carlo Masters when he went down in straight sets to Marin Cilic.

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, who will retire from the circuit in May, reached a career high ranking of number five in the world nearly a decade ago. AFP/Archives

The French former world number five - who has dropped to 254 in the ATP rankings following an array of injuries - lost the first four games of his first round match against the Croatian amid a flurry of unforced errors and poor shot selections.

He held serve to recover to 1-4 before Cilic - himself a former member of the top 10 - powered to his way to 5-1. Tsonga held serve to give the scoreboard a tad of respectability before Cilic wrapped up the opener in half an hour.

Tsonga - who announced his retirement from the circuit last week - held firm at the outset of the second set.

Romp

But from 2-2, Cilic surged away - despite the  crowd trying to rally Tsonga - to take the set 6-2 and end proceedings in 67 minutes.

"I’m sad that it wasn't more of a match because it was my last Monte-Carlo," said Tsonga.

"It’s not always easy but that’s it. Maybe I have been on the tour for too long."

Tsonga is waiting on the French Tennis Federation - which organises the French Open - to grant him an invitation to enter the main draw of the tournament which starts on 22 May in Paris.

Tsonga, who turns 37 on 14 April, twice reached the semi-final at the competition. In 2013, he lost to David Ferrer and in 2015, he lost to Stan Wawrinka who went on to beat Novak Djokovic in the final.

Djokovic will be in action on Tuesday while Wawrinka bowed out on Monday afternoon following a three-set loss to Alexander Bublik from Kazakhstan.

Wawrinka, the 2014 champion in Monte Carlo, was playing his first competitive game on the senior tour since March 2021 following two operations on his foot.

The 37-year-old Swiss took the first set but the lack of match practice eventually put paid to his chances.

Bublik claimed the second set 7-5 and it was one way traffic in the decider as he broke twice to romp home 6-2. Bublik 

In the second round Bublik will meet Spain's Pablo Carreno Busta who took three sets to see off the Argentine qualifier Sebastian Baez.